The Los Angeles Times talked to a farmer, who voted for Bush but regrets it, but who appears more than a little reluctant to vote for the presumptive Democratic nominee. "Obama," the farmer said, "just doesn't sound right for an American president." The president of the West Virginia Coon Hunters Assn. told the Times he rejects Obama "because of, you know, who he is."

I'm also reminded of this New Yorker piece from George Packer a couple of weeks ago, about Obama struggling to win over voters in Kentucky.

After [a John McCain speech in Inez, Kentucky], I left the county courthouse and crossed the main street to talk to a small group of demonstrators holding signs next to McCain's campaign bus. J. K. Patrick, a retired state employee from a neighboring county, wore a button on his shirt that said "Hillary: Smart Choice."

"East of Lexington she'll carry seventy per cent of the primary vote," he said. Kentucky votes on May 20. "She could win the general election in Kentucky." I asked about Obama. "Obama couldn't win."

Why not? "Race," Patrick said matter-of-factly. "I've talked to people -- a woman who was chair of county elections last year, she said she wouldn't vote for a black man." Patrick said he wouldn't vote for Obama either. Why not? "Race. I really don't want an African-American as President. Race."

I thought about all of this after reading an item from MyDD's Jerome Armstrong, who has made clear his strong distaste for Obama, and who argued yesterday that it's offensive to accuse voters of bigotry. "Racism is ignorance, but unfounded accusations of racism are just as low on the scum-radar," Armstrong wrote. He suggested that unless Obama's supporters have proof of electoral racism, they shouldn't carelessly throw the charges around.

Armstrong's point is well taken. Unfounded accusations of racism are obviously wrong, and it's especially awkward in the context of two Democratic primaries. There's considerable anecdotal evidence that racial animus is driving voters in Kentucky and West Virginia away from Obama, but anecdotes are not data.

My only follow up would be this: what else can explain Obama's 40-point deficits in West Virginia and Kentucky? The states are lacking in some of Obama's most reliable constituencies, but so are states like Nebraska, South Dakota, Idaho, Wyoming, and Alaska, but Obama won each of those contests easily. What's more, looking at county data, some of Obama's worst performing counties just happen to be throughout Appalachia.

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